As of 1 January 2014, invoices for supplies to federal offices have to be sent electronically (Directive 2010/45/EC). Paper invoices will only be accepted in case of cash payment. The Austrian Ministry of Finance expects from this change from paper invoices to electronic invoices less administrative work and optimised invoice processing.

In order to assess whether a business partner is a federal office, it is recommended to contact the business partner in time or check the online list of federal offices provided by the federal purchasing agency . In individual cases (e.g. district school inspectors, scholarship centres, schools, university hospitals, etc.) it may be difficult to classify the parties correctly. Apart from federal offices also some state offices intend to change to e-invoicing in the near future.

The invoices have to be transferred either via the company service portal (Unternehmensserviceportal – USP) or via the PEPPOL transport infrastructure. Invoices sent as pdf by email will no longer be accepted.

In order to use the USP service, a natural person has to register for each user account. The registration can be done with the citizen card, a mobile signature or the private FinanzOnline access data (access data to the portal of the Austrian tax authorities) of a natural person resident in Austria. A short questionnaire should help companies with the registration in the USP.

Companies can send their e-invoices themselves or authorize their tax advisor to send the e-invoice on their behalf. Note: For the time being only persons with place of domicile in Austria can be entitled to transfer e-invoices to federal offices.

Once the access to the USP has been granted, the e-invoice can be sent via three channels:

• Manual entry into a web form
• Upload of invoice in a structured format (xml file)
• Transfer of invoices via webservice

The invoice has to state the mandatory invoice requirements, as well as a supplier number and an order reference. Without this information no e-invoices can be submitted to federal offices.

The electronically submitted invoice is first checked for formal requirements and then forwarded to the responsible federal office. As confirmation of the successful submission of the e-invoice, an invoice copy is sent as pdf to the supplier. The supplier is also contacted in case of problems or errors in the invoice.

For further information please contact:
Christine WEINZIERL
Partner
Phone: +43-1-501 88-3630
Email: christine.weinzierl@at.pwc.com